Pain Perdu Je Taime Food

PAIN PERDU

Steps:

• Combine the sliced strawberries, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, honey, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons orange liqueur, the vanilla, orange zest, and salt. Slice the bread in 3/4-inch slices. Pour the egg mixture into a large shallow plate and soak a few slices of bread for 4 minutes, turning once.
• Heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil in a very large saute pan over medium heat. Take each slice of bread from the egg mixture, dip one side in the toasted almonds, and place in the saute pan, almond side down. (While you're cooking each batch, add more bread to the egg mixture to soak.) Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked bread on a baking sheet and keep it warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan with a dry paper towel, add more butter and oil, and continue to fry the remaining soaked bread until they're all cooked. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve hot with the strawberries.

PAIN PERDU

Steps:

• Place the bread in a large bowl and set aside.
• Whisk together the cream, vanilla sugar, brandy, salt and eggs (or use a blender). Pour over the bread. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then turn the bread over to ensure proper absorption. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Heat large oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat and add the butter. Sprinkle some flour and some vanilla sugar on top of the bread slices. When the foam from the butter subsides, put the soaked bread in the pan and cook on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip the bread and place the pan in the oven until cooked through and custardy in the middle, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Serve with powdered sugar and maple syrup.

PAIN PERDU JE T'AIME

Steps:

• Lightly toast the pecan halves in a cast iron skillet and set aside to cool. Once cooled, coarsely chop.
• Using a serrated bread knife, slice up the challah bread lengthwise, then cut the pieces crosswise into 3/4" slices. The bread should be slightly dried but not stale.
• In a large bowl combine the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt. Blend with a hand held immersion blender until smooth. (You could also blend the egg mixture in a stand up blender.).
• Heat up an equal amount of oil and butter (about 2 tablespoons total) in a large heavy pan or non-stick pan on medium heat.
• Once the butter just starts to sizzle, begin dipping the slices of bread quickly in the egg mixture. Do not allow the slices to soak!
• Add the bread to the pan, but do not crowd. Cook on each side about 1 1/2-2 minutes or until golden brown. Add more oil/butter if necessary to faciliate browning. *NOTE: Because of the high sugar content in this recipe, watch the pan carefully so that the French toast does not burn!
• Once cooked, place the French toast on a warming tray and repeat the process until all the bread is cooked.
• Transfer the French toast to a large serving platter, garnish with the pecan halves and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Dot with butter. Serve with slices of fresh seasonal fruit if you wish.
• Serve the warmed maple syrup on the side.
• If you wish, you can serve two types of maple syrup: regular maple syrup and maple syrup with rum stirred in (about 1 tablespoon for each cup of syrup).
• Yield is estimated.

GRILLED PAIN PERDU

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Whisk in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Gradually whisk in the half-and-half and the buttermilk. Pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish. Working in batches, if necessary, place the bread in the dish and let soak, then turn and soak on the other side.
• Cook the soaked bread on a grill or buttered griddle until golden brown, then turn and repeat on the other side.
• Meanwhile, prepare the grapefruit sections.
• In a saute pan, add the maple syrup and bring to a boil. Place the grapefruit sections in the hot syrup and cook on 1 side for 30 seconds, then flip them over to cook and warm through on the other side. Pour the grapefruit and syrup over the French toast then top with dollops of mascarpone.